Danny won't let his obsession with Jeff Green die. Ainge was on WEEI yesterday for a lengthy interview and talked about a myriad of topics. Predictably he says he'd still do the Perk deal, but he's at least honest enough to admit he messed up by letting Tony Allen go. The most shocking comment from Ainge was that there might be a switch in the starting line-up between our best player Pierce and the underwhelming Green:

"Maybe there’s a change of roles. Maybe Paul comes off the bench, cuts down on his minutes. Maybe we find a way to get Jeff more minutes. His role will expand if he’s back here next year. There’s no question about that ... "

"It wouldn’t totally shock me if there’s a change in the starting lineup, but that’s just way too tough to tell."

Jeff Green would make a fine starter on a team not headed for the playoffs like the Cavs, Wolves, or Kings. But Jeff Green is inferior to Paul Pierce in every facet of the game, besides who's quicker running down the court. In related news the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan and Carl Lewis in 1984, yet not surprisingly Jordan made for a better NBA prospect. What's your opinion on the proposed switch? And what's your opinion on Ainge admitting the TA gaffe?

Read the cliff notes version of Ainge's interview here. Listen to the full interview here.

66 Responses so far.

somebody please fire dumbass ainge hes an idiot pierce is one of the best in the league hes the heart and sole of our team thats disrespectful to make him come off the bench i wouldnt blame pierce if he asks for a trade

"So I said that on the radio show [Thursday], just to get everybody sort of excited," joked Ainge. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll be hearing from Paul. But I don't know. That will be Doc's decision. Jeff playing a bigger role, if he comes back, I think that that will be the case if he were to come back. I think he would play a bigger role. I have no idea, maybe he'll start in place of Ray [Allen]. Now [I'll be hearing from] Ray. Who knows? I don't know the answer to that. But it's possible that there could be [changes] -- it isn't like this core group of guys doesn't have to play the exact same way or with the exact same players. There's some things that can be tweaked. That's my whole point."

Everyone's blowing this out of proportion.. He said later in the same interview he didn't know if that was going to happen and blah blah.The point of Ainge's message though: the big 3 needs to play less minutes. Everyone agrees on that and Green's going to play a bigger role.He said Bradley's going to have a bigger role, no one's making a massive story about that.The man brought us our core group. Would be nice to see celtics' fans show him more respect.Even with Perk, Miami still would have knocked us out.

Green was also playing out of his natural position. He is a natural 3 and Durant plays there in OKC. He may play to his postential at the 3 spot. He was very inconsistent and not a good fit for them at the 4.

Green might be better at the 3, but Danny doesn't need to treat him with kid gloves and give him a starter position over our leader and all-star. The whole idea that Green can't perform off the bench is silly. If you're a good player you can perform off the bench. Green would have plenty of mins as a 6th man, but we saw what happens if u put him in primetime. He gets butterfinger hands. I think in the regular season you should let him play, but in the playoffs he has a ways to go to earn trust. He's like the anti Posey.

He'll have his shot this upcoming season. That's for sure. He's going to get minutes.

Sure glad you have the luxury of laughing Danny especially after you pissed away the Season gambling on the O'Neals! Seriously us Celtic Fans take this team very seriously if you had 1/2 a brain in that f*cked up head of yours, you would to. How about getting a good Bench??? Starters are proven over and over again.....Get Chandler or Nene at Center draft JaJuan from Purdue and sign some good FA youth at the other positions retard!!! There I just did your job for you Danny!!!!

Imran,I don't think its that big a deal. Doc is gonna start Pierce. The bigger deal is Danny's non stop need to promote Green. Saying he's playing outstanding and he's the most efficient, etc. We get it Danny? You dont like the criticism you get for the Perk trade. No one is demanding u say u screwed up, but enough with the Jeff Green hyperbole.

Jena said...Danny is crazy as hell if he is even considering starting Green. Green is far too passive a player. He's done enough damage to the Celtics letting an aggressive player like T. Allen and Kendrick Perkins go. Please leave it alone Danny. For goodness sake just leave it alone. Get us a center.. concentrate on that

I still think he didn't screw up with trading Perk. Lets face it, Perk is a great guy but at that moment expandable. If the trade didn't happen our precious captain wouldn't finished the season at all. Now it's easy to be smart, but those were right moves at the time.I still trust Danny, cause much of nice memories we wouldn't have if it wasn't for him. Besides, he was believing in Rondo when everyone else doubted, and if not for anything else, then for that alone I would give him some credit when he's talking about Green.

That is so disrespectful of danny to say that PP may come off the bench. Did he forget that PP is the key player, key scorer, and had been with the franchise before anyone in the team ... for the last 13 years....Danny sometimes does not knwo what he is talking about. Okay, may be he has the idea to expand Green's role, but why not discussion with the team first (that way there will be mental readiness and awareness), before bla blabing to the media as he did. I thought it was stupid thing that PP had to hear about this rumor from media

God people.... Green was better the more minutes he played. Imagine him playing 30mins. He maybe scores about 30 each game for us. Also, Pierce is not getting any younger and he deserves breaks. No one speaks about not letting him in anymore, but why not go for solid 30mins - 35mins from the bench (Green could switch to PF sometimes as well -> which would give KG some more rest, either).

Also look at Green's age. He will grow and maybe become an all-star, as well. We can't know for now, but giving him a chance in a season like next one's is (there will be a lockout) is a good try I think. I think we reached the same level as the Celtics had 91/92. Great players, great veterans, but finally too old to win titles. I doubt we would win another title with this big three (as sad as it sounds). Second round for sure, but then we would face the Heat or Bulls and they are not going to get worse in the next year(s). Face it guys. Our time is over for now and we should slowly focus on rebuilding this team. If you don't want to finish as one of worst 5 teams in the league again let's trust in Danny for his plans for next season.

JR Smith can trim down Ray's heavy minutes, same goes for Afflalo. Both are wild, athletic and provide a scoring punch off the bench, they ain't bad at defense too.

Leon Powe, no need for explanations here.

Carl Landry and Kris Humphries are both monsters on the glass and can give about 10+ rebounds off the bench. Jajuan Johnson is an athletic 6'10 player who can hit midrange jumpers, block shots and grab rebounds, a great replacement for Big Baby.

Nene and Tyson, man both are amazing defensively and great offensively. I would much rather go for Tyson since he is more athletic than Perk, better defender too. Samuel Dalembert is a big body who could handle forces like Howard and Bynum. These Centers can bring back the defensive intensity that we lost. They could cure our rebounding, inside defense problems and stop people like Wade and Lebron from attack the paint.

First I will like to say Im a HUGE Paul Pierce fan, my favorite Celtic of all time... Second, I think we're blowing this waay out of context, the objective of making this comment was that we know Jeff will walk through those doors next year with a bigger role, whether that means come off the bench & play starters minutes, & lower Pierce's to 6th man minutes, or upgrade him to 6th man, or playing him along with Garnett at the Center spot, but it just so happens Pierce plays the 3 too, but Danny was only speaking hypothetically, like I said over on Redsarmy, this is probably something thats never crossed his mind, but it was the best way in saying Jeff will have a bigger role next year, almost like a hyperbole... But.... We all know this wont go through without Pierce's permission, & Doc probably still wont do it, but what is wrong with this if Pierce aproves of it, & plays less minutes, & is just as effective, again, I dont think it will happen, but its not that bad a idea... However a better idea is starting Green, & bringing Ray off the bench, & play Pierce at the 2 spot, this is something else I dont think will happen, but it is a better idea than bringing Pierce off the bench.. the objective is that the BIG 3 plays less minutes, if they approve of coming off the bench, & we are still successful, then so be it, but its not that dumb idea as we're making it, you have to think about it without emotions, then you'll understand the logic... I also would like moving KG to the 5, & play Jeff at the 4... I think thats more doable, and likely... Again, I DONT BELIEVE IT WILL HAPPEN!!!!!

JR Smith, I believe that he can bring wackiness to the team like Nate Robinson did. He can also handle being in tough situations.He also wouldn't feel alone because he has his buddy Nene potentially joining with him.

The Celtics don't need any more "role" players- they have terrific ones in KG, Ray, Paul, etc. What they need is a legit 1A guy- like Chris Paul or Dwight Howard. A guy that will cancel out LeBron or Wade's greatness.

ou fans are so touchii now a days. Everybody now keeps bringing the Perkins trade. Let me brake it down to you KP sucks! He is way overate. JO walking on one foot was way better than KP. And btw PP and RA for that matter at some point will have to come off the bench; this will help keep this guys fresh and more assertive throughout the course of the game. Basketball Gods dictate the game, unfortunatly for us Ra is gonna be 36yrs old and PP 35, so at some point it will be helpfull to our team to find out what we have in JG if he is playing as a starter and how he would adjust to that. We have to think as of the Celtics as a whole and not just PP, RA and KG. If JG brings another weapon to the Cs, i'm very comfortable with either RA or PP coming off the bench. DA has done a masterful job as a GM; injuries happen and are part of the game; if it wasn't for injuries we might have won 3 titles instead of only one. I am very happy we have DA in the front office instead of everyone of these fans or journalists that talk without thinking. Be cool Cs fans; our future is brighter than you'd expect, and that's thanks to the ownership and leadership of those who are in charge of this team.

All the players Zier named will get more than the MLE except for Powe. We will only be able to afford one and then try to fill the bench with talent for the vets min. Hopefully Green & West returns and we can trade Big Baby for Jeff Foster or Reggie Evans. Pryzbilla would be a huge pickup for us if he can stay healthy. Gotta add a shooter or two as well so don't be surprised if we sign Kapono or Redd. Don't sleep on Mike Redd. Look at what Peja is doing in a limited role in Dallas.

Those are the players that I think we could get. The other free agents can get so much more else where. Hopefully we can get a solid player for Glen Davis. We can't just let him walk for nothing though. We might have to turn to the d-league. There is a lot of talent out there. I wouldn't mind us resigning Chris Johnson and working him into a solid center this summer. He's long and extremely athletic.

I know you won't be happy to hear my opinion, but I kind of agree with him. If Green starts then Pierce can finish. We need Pierce at the end with ALL of his energy. Also, Ainge is looking at the future of the Celtics instead of the present. He should be looking at the present, because that is what matters right now.The Perk trade wasn't that bad. The C's were doing good without him at the beginning of this season. It was just the emotions behind the trade and the bad timing of the trade that messed up the C's and their chemistry. I didnt expect them to do so good at the end of the season, they weren't used to the new players and didnt have enough chemistry. Also, the new players haven't earned the trust yet. When they do get it, the C's will be amazing. I think over the summer they will get to know eachother and their chemistry will be as stronger.

I think we should go for Dwight and CP3... I dont want to replace Rondo, he is my favorite player in all of nba, but CP3 would be a great asset for the Celtics. If we got Dwight it would be amazing, especially if we can get either of them away from the Lakers. We also still need a good player to replace Perk. We should trade Kristic and maybe Wafer.... other players I am not so sure of.

Anonymous said...somebody please fire dumbass ainge hes an idiot pierce is one of the best in the league hes the heart and sole of our team thats disrespectful to make him come off the bench i wouldnt blame pierce if he asks for a trade

Son do you know that Doc will talk to Pierce about it? If Pierce is asked to consider it, he will, because he's a team player. He's not one of the best in the league anymore and I love the guy. He's got miles on him and he's still very tough but he's got years on his legs. It was sad that he was struggling to keep up with Lebron, but that's what happens when you're into your mid 30's. They'll do what's best for the team, believe that.

Alright my last point---People are saying that this is disrespectful of Ainge to say this about Pierce. First of all, he's saying it theoretically, he's not actually saying they're going to do it. Second of all, Pierce just wants to win, and if he honestly thinks that's the move that'll make them better I think he'll do it.

I honestly think that we might see Ray go to the bench, but who knows. I've been saying all along that this deal was a good move for the Celtics to get Green as much as we all loved Perk. I wish we could get Perk back, but Green is going to be a monster, people just need to have faith. If we don't get Green back in the offseason though, we are absolutely screwing up.

Danny Ainge is the one who brought the big three together. Rondo, fat baby, and perk are all very average players. Get rid of all of them. The biggest problem we have is Rondo can't shoot, so every team team gets to play 5on4 with us. secondly, none of the big three have the ability to take over games. Most of the time they get double teamed because of Rondo. West would do a better ob started. He is a better on ball defender. Rondo takes to many chances put the bigs in too much foul trouble. We clearly have terrible ball movement, Rondo dribbles around till there is only 10 seconds left. I could write forever. We gave it away

Ainge's trades have earned him a spot hanging from the rafters where banner 18 should've been hanging from this year. We got big heavy at first and then he trades them all away. Fucker needs his head checked.

This is simple to me. None of the "Big 3" need to come off the bench. They can start, each play about 6 minutes per quarter so they get enough rest. Periodically, throughout the season, each of them should get games off, not at the same time of course. The point is to be as healthy and fresh when the playoffs come around. As for Shaq, when he was healthy the beginning of this season, the Celtics were playing great. If he returns, they should have him play in a couple games a week. JO can start in place of him the majority of the time. Jeff Green should play "starters" minutes as well. He's still young, has a lot of energy to offer this team. They need to use him effectively to allow him to have more confidence in playing here in Boston and not feel neglected from getting playing time.

AND Rondo needs to work on his jump shooting and freethrows all offseason. That is what is missing from his game. I am tired of watching teams back off him, giving him 6 feet of space for a jumper. He needs to work hard on that because everything else (passing, rebounding, defense) is adequate.

The biggest problem the c's have is our bench. How many games did we watch where double digit leads were chopped down to almost nothing until the starters came back in? If we don't start working now to build our bench up while pierce, Allen and kg are still healthy and playing, we could end up going another eternity without a title. Pierce is my favorite Celtic, but he needs the help.

This is a case of generations changing hands - it's got to be done at some point - I thought in the series against the Heat - Green was quicker and stronger on defense than PP, the C's problem is rebounding and Green needs improvement there - it's interesting to note things went downhill for the C's at the point when they brought Green OUT in both game 4 and game 5 - LeBron suddenly had his way! I think Doc Rivers made the mistake of bringing Green out and then with minimal time left rushing him back in. As far as Green's offense he's pretty accurate - he was begging for the ball on the 3 point line a number of times - wide open on the wing and waiting for passes that never came. They need to involve him more on the offense (or he needs to be more aggressive). Hopefully the chemistry will evolve over the off-season. Green is only 24 and is the potential future of the Celtics and anyone who "blames" him for the loss is wrong. He and Pierce both have a place and I have a feeling next season neither "will be coming off the bench". But eventually generations will change hands... Pierce and C fans will need to accept that.

Considering it will be half a year before the season starts again i'm not putting a thought into this article. Green is a free agent this summer so its blatantly obvious to me that he's saying this nonsense to keep him....

@Anon Multiple All Def Teams, multiple All Star, lead the league in steals last season, top 3 in assists, top 2 in assists and steals this season, multiple trp dbl, avg a trp dbl in playoffs, top 5 in trp dbl this season, setting records for assists, I hardly consider that an average player. As far as none of the big 3 having the ability to take over games(did you watch any of the games this season, doesn't sound like it). With that being said, they get dbl teamed BECAUSE they have the ability to take over games. West is a better on ball defender? They clearly have terrible ball movement? Maybe at times it hasn't been good, but not terrible. I could write forever on what's wrong with your comment, but it would be too easy.

Jeff Green: Most butterfinger moments in a playoff series ever. He now holds that record. Playing in front of Pierce or Ray isn't even a funny joke, or something to get people stirred. It's fucking insanity. Doc KG and Ray should go in his office and bash his skull in for stripping them of their epic retirement year. Woulda went out with it all. RIP. 2010-2011 pretrade Celtics. Amen to QDs comment. Also, to those of you who supported the trade at initially, or at any time for that matter, I playfully laugh.

You people all seem to conveniently forget that Perk is the one who wouldn't sign when Danny tried to get a deal done. Perk wanted more money and a longer contract and said he was going to test the free agent waters after this year was up. Ainge did the smart thing and traded him while he had some value because come the end of the season he had nothing. Green got better as his playing time increased. You people think players who come to this team in the middle of the season just jump in and pick up where some other player left off. It doesn't work that way. It takes a while to learn the system and he was just starting to gel and show some good playing time. I like him and want to see him back next seasosn.

I miss Perk and it's quite obvious I'd rather have him here. I am convinced we would have had less problems in the last months with him here.

However, I like Green and Krstic too. Both can contribute in the future and hopefully next year they will play better and harder.

I also think Danny should just stop talking to the media because he is doing some harm to Green with these kinds of comments. Jeff just needs time and everybody knows he has not played as we were told he would...plain and simple. He is not developed and we needed someone tougher mentally and with more playoff experience.

It would be so much nicer for everyone if Danny admitted he ruined the chemistry on the team and accepted his mistake (as he did with the Tony situation) and move on...but I guess he is not going to do such thing now.

Let's move on. Green should be resigned and also West and Krstic.

And no, Danny. Paul will not be a bench player to let Green get more playing time. That's frankly bullcrap and you know it

Mhh the lockout is about to happen because the league and the teams want to save some money. So there will be a MUCH MUCH tighter CBA, which includes that most likely the mid-level exception won't be possible for next season anymore and as we are way over the Salary Cap we probably won't be able to sign any free agent, except for guys who are okay with the veteran minimum.

LOL! JR it's 6am on Sunday morning, I'm up getting ready for Sunday Mass. Today is the first time that I've actually looked at the Carl Lewis vid... if I say what I have to say about the vid God would surely punish me when I walked through his doors, so I'll wait til later.

@paulpierce34 is not a bench player , #paulpierce is legend he is playing over 10 yrs in celtics , jeff green is new in celtics #paulpierce is my favorite player in nba and celtics, we dont need #jeffgreen in celtics , if #dannyainge is a crazy he compare #paulpierce to #jeffgreen if i am paulpierce i wish i will be trade to other team with a respect .

Ainge you are so freaking stupid!!! you don't put Pierce on the freaking bench!! pierce is soo much better than Green!! Pierce should NOT sit on the bench first!!! I swear Ainge has made some stupid mistakes =.. like the Perkins trade, that was the worst